The XmlAdapter and SqlXml Classes

The XmlAdapter and SqlXml Classes

The previous chapter concentrated on a discussion of the XPathDocument2 as a better XML store. In this chapter we'll look at the XmlAdapter, and XML views that map relational tables from SQL Server to an XML schema, which altogether can provide opportunities for executing bidirectional queries and updates. This offers a comprehensive and powerful middle-tier XML programming API in ADO.NET to access relational data as XML.

Then, near the end of this chapter, we will cover support for the specific SQLXML functionality included in SQL Server 2000 today, which is now incorporated into the .NET Framework. This includes classes such as Xml BulkLoad for streaming XML into SQL Server. Finally, we'll conclude with a brief look at the XML data binding support that has been built into ASP.NET.

So, the topic list for this chapter is:

• An introduction to the XmlAdapter class

• XML views and three-part mapping

• How to update SQL Server using the XmlAdapter class

• How to migrate from SQLXML 3.0 to the .NET Framework

• XML data source controls and XML data binding

To start, we'll look at the concepts introduced with the new XmlAdapter class and the use of XML views and the three-part mapping technology we discussed back in Chapter 5.